BANGKOK – Immigration officers investigated a group involved in forging passports and using fake passports in Thailand, eventually arresting the leader of the gang.
On May 29, Pol. Maj. Gen. Phanthana Nutchanart, Deputy Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, and his team announced the arrest of Mr. Chun, a 58-year-old Surinamese national wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on April 17, 2024, for forging and using fake passports.
He was handed over to the investigating officers of the Investigation Division, Immigration Bureau, for legal proceedings. The arrest took place on Suan Phlu Road, Thung Maha Mek Subdistrict, Sathon District, Bangkok.
Investigations revealed that a gang was forging passports and illegally bringing people in and out of the country. The gang leader, Chun, born in 1966, claimed to be Taiwanese, but when the Immigration Bureau coordinated with the Taiwanese police, they discovered that his Taiwanese passport was fake. Further coordination with the police of the People’s Republic of China revealed that he was actually a Chinese national.
Chun was found to be the leader of a gang forging passports from the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, and permanent resident cards of various countries. He was also the head of a gang illegally smuggling Chinese citizens out of the People’s Republic of China to other countries using forged passports or permanent resident cards to conceal their identities and flee from China. He later acquired Surinamese citizenship.
Simultaneously, the Immigration Police also obtained a search warrant from the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court to search a condominium room in the Sathon area, which Chun claimed to be the occupant.
Inside the room, officers found Thai government documents such as a driver’s license, several bank account opening documents, and passport copies. Chun was arrested, and the documents were seized as evidence for further legal proceedings.
____
